Zhao Wuji

Xiao Feiyu and the other two all found it strange. Ever since their trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, things seemed to have shifted slightly from their previous lives.

The broad course of events remained unchanged, but these uncontrollable shifts still left them uneasy.

After all, a change that worked in their favor today could turn against them tomorrow.

Everything they had done so far followed a plan they had run through countless times.

Over such a long course, one tiny variable could make the entire plan cost them far more.

If it's a blessing, it won't be a curse; if it's a curse, there's no escaping it. I just hope everything goes smoothly until Xiao Yuan has fully grown. Xiao Feiyu sighed inwardly, then turned to Sword Douluo. "Please give your sect master my regards. And please tell him that we expect to visit Heaven Dou City in about a year. By then, Miss Ning's Martial Soul will undergo a complete transformation."

Sword Douluo was overjoyed. It seemed the events in Rongrong's dreams were quite likely to come true.

Six years had passed since Rongrong's Martial Soul Awakening. They had spared no effort, and even Ning Rongrong had changed her temperament. Wasn't it all for this moment?

If her dreams had shown more than scattered fragments, Ning Fengzhi would have searched for that precious treasure himself.

Unfortunately, the information they had gleaned from the dreams was limited. In the end, their hopes still rested on Lu Shiyuan.

Ning Fengzhi had met countless people and had investigated Lu Shiyuan. Sword Douluo had even made two special trips to Notting City to uncover his background.

But the results left him bitterly disappointed. Despite all his efforts, he had found no trace of Xiao Feiyu and her companions' past.

They were as though they had appeared out of nowhere on this continent. For the first twenty-odd years of their lives, they had kept their heads down, only to suddenly become Super Douluo.

During the investigation, Xiao Feiyu had spotted Sword Douluo. The two had fought fiercely; Chen Xin had retreated in defeat, bearing serious injuries.

If Xiao Feiyu hadn't known that Sword Douluo had offered considerable help in her previous life, she really would have struck to kill.

From that day on, Ning Fengzhi gave up investigating Lu Shiyuan.

Instead, he changed the way he raised Ning Rongrong. She had also grown considerably through her dreams. The lessons she had once willfully ignored gradually sank in, and her temperament slowly changed.

It was no exaggeration to say that the Ning Rongrong of today had all the virtues of the original story's version and none of her flaws.

That was why Ning Fengzhi felt comfortable letting his daughter leave Heaven Dou City. Escorted by Sword Douluo, she had come to Suotuo City to meet Lu Shiyuan on her own.

After watching Sword Douluo leave, Yun Qingluo abruptly changed the subject.

"Fei Yu, what did Xiao Yuan say he wanted to eat last time?"

"I think it was Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs."

"Then I'll go buy the ingredients. We'll celebrate properly tonight. Xiao Yuan will probably start absorbing his fifth Soul Ring as soon as he gets back."

Yun Qingluo beamed. Far from feeling dejected about a Super Douluo being reduced to a caretaker, she seemed delighted.

Meanwhile, on the training ground, Tang San could hardly contain his joy at seeing Xiao Wu.

No longer alone, he immediately hurried to her side and stuck to her like a plaster, to her great annoyance.

How does he manage to be this irritating?

"Xiao Wu, I knew you'd get in!" Tang San flashed what he thought was a dashing smile. "I passed too. The teacher handling registration was shocked when he saw my level twenty-nine Soul Power!"

Ning Rongrong shot Tang San a speechless look, then lowered her voice and asked Zhu Zhuqing beside her, "Is he an idiot?"

He was only a Soul Grandmaster, yet he had the nerve to show off. She was a Soul Elder, and did she go around bragging?

Over the past few days, Zhu Zhuqing had heard Lu Shiyuan and Xiao Wu talk about Tang San, so she knew what had happened between them.

She lowered her voice too and told Ning Rongrong everything she knew that she could share.

For the first time that day, Ning Rongrong frowned.

So that's Tang San.

My dreams really might come true. If I choose the other path, will the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect face annihilation because of me? Will Grandpa Sword, who has always doted on me, be badly wounded and even lose an arm?

The Ning Rongrong of today had none of the flaws she had possessed in the original story. She understood the larger picture and could see far ahead.

Calling her an Ungrateful Wolf now would hardly be fair.

"I can't believe someone like that exists," Ning Rongrong said.

Zhu Zhuqing shrugged easily. "Tell me about it. Xiao Wu's nearly at her wits' end with him."

"Didn't they graduate from the same academy? Tang San doesn't know Xiao Wu's level?"

"No. At first, Xiao Wu still had to summon her Martial Soul to beat him. Two years later, she didn't even need that. She could thrash Tang San with her physical strength alone, so he still doesn't know her level."

By her reckoning, that was around when Lu Shiyuan and the others had returned to Notting City from Star Luo City.

By then, Xiao Wu had already taken the Lovesick Heartbreak Red and the Ten-Thousand-Year Dragon Blood Ginseng. Her combat experience and Soul Power had been honed to a solid foundation in the Great Soul Arena.

Tang San aside, only Dean Chen at Nuoding Academy could barely sense Lu Shiyuan and Xiao Wu's strength.

And that was only because Lu Shiyuan had mentioned it in passing. They had kept their abilities well hidden. Everyone at the academy knew the two were far stronger than the other students, but no one knew their exact levels.

Only a blockhead like Tang San, convinced that his Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls made him a genius, believed Xiao Wu hadn't pulled too far ahead of him.

He probably thought Xiao Wu had only just become a Soul Elder.

Being foolish and naive did spare a person a lot of worries.

If Xiao Wu hadn't been worried about jeopardizing her brother's admission, she would have slapped Tang San across the face by now.

Just as her patience was about to run out, Zhao Wuji finally woke when Dai Mubai called him.

"Teacher Zhao, these are this year's applicants. The dean gave instructions—you can't slack off." Dai Mubai spoke cautiously. He had clearly suffered at Zhao Wuji's hands more than once.

That hulking bear really did hit hard.

Zhao Wuji snorted. "Dai Mubai, itching for another beating? The dean isn't here. What I say goes!"

"Yes, yes, Teacher Zhao. What you say goes." Dai Mubai knew better than to pick a fight he couldn't win. Gone was every trace of the swagger he had shown at the Registration Desk.

"All right, all right. Look at you cower. Go fight them. If they last for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, they pass." Zhao Wuji's casual words made Dai Mubai look as though he had just eaten shit.